"He almost fought the Tumbler to a standstill before...so he's gotta be someone to reckon with!"Hawkeye, whom I'm certain that Stan must have misquoted, talking about the Super-Adaptoid in Tales of Suspense 84 (1966). Maybe he had the Tumbler confused with Ultron or something.

February 12, 2004

Incredible Hulk #1 (1962)

Of course, I only wish I owned this book. Instead, I'm reviewing the Marvel Comic Book Library Collection version. Why? Because even though I'm surrounded by piles of stuff, boxes of comics, shelves of books, disks full of MP3s, a case full of concert bootlegs, a few shelves of movies, and a boatload of CDs, nothing new screamed "Read me!" (or listen to me or watch me). It's shameful, I know. What's even more shameful is that after I read about four pages of Hulk #1, I realized I had never read the origin of the Hulk. Sad, but true.

The story still holds up for me. There's plenty of Silver Age plot silliness, as we shall see, but on the whole, it's a good story. Man and his relationship with his dark side--a classic story theme. The G-Bomb. Communists. A misshapen villain who gives up his evil ways. Great Kirby art (pencils only, I think). I've stolen two scenes I particularly liked (but there are more). First, the explosion that changed Banner into the Hulk:

Second, Bruce's first transformation. You can hear the clicks of the Geiger counter growing louder as the Hulk begins to appear. It reminds me of a scene from a Hitchcock movie:

Great comics scenes, if you ask me. I think that the Hulk looks blue, rather than gray, but it could be my monitor settings that makes it seem that way.

But a Silver Age story just wouldn't be complete without some dopey plot problems and goofy quotes. You have to ask yourself, why would Bruce--a genius--trust anyone named Igor to stop the gamma bomb test ? In 1962, everyone named Igor in the U.S. is a spy. Plus, they just had had a heated exchange. Not too bright. Then there's Igor searching Banner's house for the secret of the gamma radiation. Rick Jones find it taped to the bottom of a glass beaker. Every scientist keeps a palm-sized top secret document taped to the bottom of a clear beaker. It's the perfect hiding place. But Bruce's hiding spot isn't as clever as Igor's: Igor has a "sub-miniature transistor short wave sending set" pasted on his thumb.

I wanted to find a few off the wall quotes, but there really aren't that many. Rick says a few silly things, but nothing too serious, given the time when the book was written. General Ross may have the winner: "You keep out of this, Betty! This is man talk." A few panels later: "It's ding-dong well about time!" If that's not man talk, nothing is. Let's just call that me looking for something to complain about. Overall, Hulk #1 is a great story. I got a hint of the excitement that Lee and Kirby were creating in 1962 and, as a bonus, it was great to find a classic story that I hadn't already read.